'Dan Zamlen Is Out There Somewhere'

A busload of volunteer searchers from the Iron Range unloaded in St. Paul Monday morning as the search for missing University of St. Thomas student Dan Zamlen moves into a second week.

Five more buses of searchers are expected to arrive in St. Paul over the next three days.

"Dan Zamlen is out there somewhere," said Alex Rozier, searcher and high school friend of Zamlen. "We're going to find him. There's no test, no class that's more important than finding my friend."

Rozier couldn't spend one more day sitting in Missouri, so he flew to Minnesota on Monday, and has come to the conclusion Dan Zamlen is alive and not in the Mississippi River.

Zamlen's 19th birthday was Wednesday. Family members in Eveleth, Minn. had planned on celebrating his birthday at home over the Easter weekend,
Police have scaled back their active search for Zamlen, saying they've reached a point where they've looked everywhere they can.

Around 3 a.m. Sunday morning, Dan Zamlen left a house party on the 2100 block of St. Clair Ave., near the St. Thomas campus.

Family members said Zamlen had been drinking alcohol and is a type-one diabetic. He apparently left the party upset.

Sarah Nelson and Anna Chapuis, two of Zamlen's friends, were the last to talk to him, around 3 a.m. Sunday.

"Dan called me and said he was walking toward the river and I said, whoa, I'm coming to pick you up," Nelson, said.

The last words heard on that phone call were, "Oh my god, oh my god, I'm slipping." At that point, the phone cut out and the friends called police.

Aaron Mielke is a geographical information specialist. He took satellite photo from work to scour the riverbanks, then hooked up with searchers through one of several Facebook groups dedicated to finding Dan Zamlen.

If Zamlen didn't stop, searchers believe they would have found blood or torn clothes or any clue, but they've found nothing. It's this reason the search just gets bigger.